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29-691: The company has been identified with many endeavors, including building the Hotel Del Monte in 1880, a large resort hotel in Monterey, California . By the 1880s, the Pacific Improvement Company was one of the largest corporations in the Western United States . The company controlled dozens of subsidiary companies, which conducted shipping, mining, publishing, land development, resort hotels, electric streetcars, and water system. Although it

58-459: A right-of-way west of Santa Barbara, California , the company purchased 2,000 acres (809 ha)acres from Thomas Hope's widow for $ 250,000. By the 1900s, the company sold "villa sites" from 2 acres (1 ha) or 50 acres (20 ha) acres in size. PIC built the El Carmelo Hotel , which opened to guests on May 20, 1887. It was Pacific Grove 's first hotel and sometimes called the sister of

87-544: The 1906 All-America Team . A member of Skull and Bones and Delta Kappa Epsilon , he was voted Most Popular in the Yale University graduating class in 1907. Although he inherited a considerable sum upon his father's death in 1905, he decided to move out west to begin working on his own after graduation. In June 1907, Morse married Anne Thompson and moved to Visalia, California to begin working. Initially he worked for John Hays Hammond's Mt. Whitney Power Company with

116-773: The Del Monte Properties (DMP), and acquired the 10,000 acres (4,047 ha) holdings of PIC, in Monterey County, including the Del Monte Forest , the Del Monte Lodge, Hotel Del Monte, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and Rancho Los Laureles , now the Carmel Valley Village, California , and the Monterey County Water Works, for $ 1.3 million. Morse planned to use this land to develop a community within

145-605: The Hotel Del Monte . It was located on Lighthouse Avenue between Fountain and Grand Avenues, Pacific Grove. In 1907, the name of the hotel changed to the Pacific Grove Hotel. In 1917, the PIC decided to dismantle it and use the wood in the reconstruction of The Lodge at Pebble Beach that had burned down on December 17, 1917. The empty block was sold to W. R. Holman in 1919 to open the Holman Department Store. By 1899, all

174-636: The Southern Pacific Railroad 's property division of PIC. In January 1880, the branch line of the Southern Pacific Railroad between Castroville and Monterey, California was completed. It was called the Del Monte Express . Charles Crocker chose Monterey as the site for a new seaside luxury hotel, which would be called the Hotel Del Monte . PIC purchased over 7,000 acres (2,833 ha) of ranch land for $ 35,000. The land included

203-496: The "purpose of engaging and carrying on the construction, manufacturing, mining, mercantile banking and commercial business in all its branches." The principal place of business was at San Francisco. Capital stock was $ 5,000,000; divided into 5,000 shares of $ 100 each. Directors were J. H. Strobridge, F. S. Douty, Authur Brown, B. R. Crocker, and W. E. Brown. Charles Crocker , one of the California's Big Four railroad barons, funded

232-630: The Monterey Coast including the Hotel Del Monte , Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and the 11,000-acre (45 km ) Rancho Laureles, now the Carmel Valley Village , and the Monterey County Water Works, all for $ 1.34 million. Morse developed and rebuilt the land and properties of the Del Monte Forest, including eight golf courses including Spyglass Hill , Cypress Point , Pebble Beach and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. He sold

261-584: The Monterey County Water Works and operated a sand plant, among other ventures. Fortune magazine had an article describing the company as a "dying dream with a profitable sand business". During World War II, he also leased the Hotel Del Monte and land to the navy to be used as a flight school for 2000 cadets. After the war, the Navy bought the hotel to be used for the Naval Postgraduate School . After

290-496: The Southern Pacific Railroad's Superintendent of Bridges and Buildings. It was destroyed by fire on June 1, 1887 and was replaced. Two guests were killed and the hotel damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . Humorist Josh Billings died at the hotel in 1885. The Del Monte Golf Course opened in 1897 as a public club. The Del Monte Cup championships were played at the Del Monte Golf Course beginning in 1898, and

319-537: The architects of the third hotel building. The pool itself was designed by Hobart. The Roman Plunge Solarium was restored in 2012 by architect James D. McCord. At that time the main Plunge was reconstructed as a reflecting pool and its original above-ground finishes restored. The Arizona Garden (1882), originally designed by landscape architect Rudolph Ulrich , is also on the grounds. Del Monte Foods traces its name back to an Oakland, California food distributor who used

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348-434: The brand name "Del Monte" for a premium coffee blend made especially for the hotel. On September 27, 1924, the second of three hotels, Hotel Del Monte building was destroyed by fire. The property surrounding the hotel became known as Pebble Beach, now a world-renowned resort and golf course. The current building dates from 1926. It was designed by architects Lewis P. Hobart and Clarence A. Tantau. The Hotel Del Monte

377-764: The downtown merchants. The proposal was later approved in 1963 and the shopping center opened in 1967. Morse married his first wife Ann Camden Thompson on 29 June 1907 at Staatsburg-on-the-Hudson, Dutchess County, New York. They had three children and their marriage lasted until 1916. Their children, Samuel F.B. Morse Jr., John Boit Morse and Nancy Morse Borland lived in California before moving to Illinois. Morse then married Relda Ford, and had one daughter, Mary Morse Osborne Shaw. He later married his last wife, Maurine Church Dalton in 1952. Morse bought back 500 acres (200 ha) of land located in Carmel Valley and named it River Ranch. He used it to entertain guests staying at

406-605: The forest centered around the Del Monte Lodge and had many plans for the rest of the area, including land for a golf course. In 1921, Morse replaced the Carmel River Dam with the San Clemente Dam to supply municipal water to the growing population on the Monterey Peninsula . Hotel Del Monte The Hotel Del Monte was a large resort hotel in Monterey, California , from its opening in 1880 until 1942. It

435-654: The help of a Yale classmate. He then ran the Crocker Huffman ranch in Merced for W. H. Crocker. During his first years in California, he and his family visited Monterey for the first time. In 1916, Morse was made manager of the Pacific Improvement Company , in charge of liquidating many of their assets. He formed his own company, Del Monte Properties , in 1919, in order to acquire these assets. Funded by Herbert Fleishhacker , he bought 7,000 acres (28 km ) on

464-484: The hotel and included gardens, parkland, polo grounds, a race track, and a golf course. Originally used for hunting and other outdoor activities, the hotel's property became Pebble Beach , an unincorporated resort community, and the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links . The famous 17-Mile Drive was designed as a local excursion for visitors to the Del Monte to take in the historic sights of Monterey and Pacific Grove and

493-530: The hotel could visit the lodge on the property to ride, hunt, and explore the trails. The Pacific Improvement Company built the Carmel River Dam in 1883, to deliver water to Monterey. 700 Chinese laborers built the dam by laying cast iron pipe to bring water out of Carmel Valley. The Pacific Improvement Company hired William Hatton to manage a dairy and ranching operation in Los Laureles. In 1887, to secure

522-422: The original owners of the PIC had died. Their heirs wanted to dissolve the company and go their separate ways. However, its assets were not liquidated until after 1916, when real estate developer Samuel Finley Brown Morse was made general manager of the Pacific Improvement Company, in charge of liquidating all of the company's vast land holdings. On February 27, 1919, funded by Herbert Fleishhacker , Morse formed

551-513: The resort through Southern Pacific Railroad 's property division, Pacific Improvement Company (PIC), and opened the first hotel June 3, 1880. The first true resort complex in the United States , it was an immediate success. Nearby, along Monterey Bay , was a railroad depot where the Del Monte (named for the hotel) served patrons arriving by train. The property extended south and southeast of

580-435: The scenery of what would become Pebble Beach. The hotel became popular with the wealthy and influential of the day, and guests included Theodore Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway as well as many early Hollywood stars. The hotel's shops included branches of Gump's , I. Magnin and City of Paris . There have been three buildings on the same site. The first building was designed by architect Arthur Brown Sr., who had been

609-528: The site of the hotel in Monterey, two of the largest Spanish land grants , Rancho Punta de Pinos , and El Pascadero , which today includes the Del Monte Forest , Pebble Beach , and Pacific Grove . The PIC and the Southern Pacific Railroad helped to build the town of Pacific Grove. The company contributed 10,000 to the construction cost to build the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Chautauqua Hall

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638-514: The war, Del Monte flourished once again. The resort also reflected a sign of the times as initially African Americans and "people under the former subjection of the Ottoman Empire" were not allowed to own property within Del Monte; however this ban was lifted in the 1960s by his son-in-law Richard Osborne, president of the company. In the late 1950s Morse proposed opening a shopping center in Monterey, which aroused much controversy and opposition from

667-479: Was an American environmental conservationist and the developer of Pebble Beach . He was known as the Duke of Del Monte and ran his company from the 1919 until his death in 1969. Originally from the eastern United States, Morse moved west and fell in love with the Monterey Peninsula , eventually owning and preserving vast acreage while also developing golf courses and The Lodge at Pebble Beach. Samuel Finley Brown Morse

696-568: Was born in Newton, Massachusetts , the son of Clara Rebecca (Boit) and George Washington Morse, a soldier in the American Civil War and later a lawyer in Massachusetts. Morse's distant cousin, Samuel Morse was the inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code . Morse attended Andover , like his father, and then Yale . At Yale, he was captain of the undefeated 1906 football team and member of

725-606: Was built in 1881 by the Pacific Improvement Company for the Pacific Grove Methodist-Episcopal Camp Retreat. The hall still exists today and is located on the southwest corner of 16th Street and Central Avenue. It was called a "Hall in the Grove," and later became known as Chautauqua Hall. In 1882, the PIC purchased the Rancho Los Laureles , which was located in Carmel Valley, California . Guests from

754-639: Was criticized as a holding company to extract profits, the PIC had an important impact on the history of California. The Pacific Improvement Company (PIC) was incorporated in San Francisco , California on November 4, 1878. A copy of the articles of incorporation were filed in the office of the County Clerk in March 1879. It was the successor of the Western Development Company. The company was created for

783-574: Was one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. During World War II, it closed and the building was leased to the United States Navy. It first was used by the Navy as a school where enlisted men spent the second, third, and fourth months of an 11-month course being trained as electronic technicians. Later the Hotel Del Monte became the Naval Postgraduate School . Charles Crocker , one of California's Big Four railroad barons, established

812-507: Was open for men and women. It is one the oldest continuously operating golf course in the United States. The first Pacific Coast Golf Association Women's Championship and the first PCGA Open were held at the Del Monte Golf Course. In 1907 an art gallery was established at the hotel. Also on the grounds are nine additional structures including the Roman Plunge Pool Complex , built in 1918 and designed by Hobart and Tantau, later

841-631: Was requisitioned by the Navy at the beginning of World War II and used as a pre-flight training school. In 1947, the U.S. Navy purchased the hotel and its surrounding 627 acres for $ 2.5 million. In 1951, the United States Naval Academy 's postgraduate school moved from Annapolis, Maryland to its new location—the former Hotel del Monte. 36°35′52″N 121°52′24″W  /  36.597889°N 121.873312°W  / 36.597889; -121.873312 Samuel Finley Brown Morse Samuel Finley Brown Morse (July 18, 1885 – May 10, 1969)

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